designed to catch thieves. He’d been shaken up at first, but had become fascinated with traps. He loved tiptoeing through the estate, armed with his pole that he banged on the walls and floors. He’d actually found quite a few traps that the servants had missed in their effort to rid the place of them. Living here was great fun for him.
“That’s very good, Masahiro.” Sano silently thanked the gods that the knife had flown right over Masahiro. Had he been as tall as an adult, he would have been killed. “You’re going to be a fine detective someday.”
“It’s in his blood,” Reiko said.
Sano felt his heart swell with pride and affection toward Masahiro. It seemed that his child became more of an individual every day. Sano had dreams that Masahiro would grow up to be an honorable samurai, make a name for himself, and father his own children one day. He told Reiko in a low voice, “I don’t want to spoil his fun, but I’d better have my men re-inspect the estate tomorrow.” Nothing must harm his precious son.
He and Reiko followed Masahiro out of the mansion to the garden, where crickets sang in the dark landscape of trees, boulders, pond, and stone lanterns. The little boy skipped away chasing fireflies that sparkled above the grass. Fragrance from night-blooming jasmine scented the air.
“This is so pleasant and peaceful, compared to other places in the world. We truly are fortunate to live here,” Reiko mused, then asked Sano, “How did your investigation go?”
He told her about interviewing Chief Ejima’s family, subordinates, and other people who had contact with him. “I’ve just talked to his informants. Just like everyone else, they had opportunity to kill him. Just like everyone else, they deny that they did it. And I have cause to believe them.”
“They lacked reason to kill him, or means?”
“Both.” Sano thought Reiko seemed a little too interested in his case, especially since she wasn’t involved in it. “The informants are minor officials who were disgruntled and trying to ruin their superiors by telling tales on them to Ejima. He was on their side. He also paid them generously. And they don’t strike me as expert martial artists. They’re the kind of samurai who wear swords as a costume and never fight.”
“This Captain Nakai sounds like the most likely culprit,” Reiko said.
Sano nodded. “I’m waiting to hear the results of Detective Tachibana’s surveillance on him.” He shook his head. “I almost wish we could put all the suspects under surveillance.”
“You can commandeer as many men as you need,” Reiko reminded him.
“There aren’t enough I can trust to do a good job. There aren’t enough men I can trust at all.” Sano was learning the limitations of his power. “Besides, it’s possible that Ejima and the other victims were killed by someone whose name hasn’t surfaced yet.”
Masahiro ran toward the pond. Reiko called, “Don’t fall in the water!” Sano asked her, “How did your investigation go?”
She tensed; her bright animation faded. “Well… I went to the crime scene. I’m afraid I ran into a bit of trouble.” She reluctantly described how she and her guards had been set upon by the outcasts.
Sano realized that she’d been dreading to tell him. He was disturbed because she’d not been as unobtrusive about her inquiries as he’d wished.
“I’m sorry,” she said contritely. “Please forgive me.”
“It’s not your fault,” Sano said, meaning it. “And I’m more concerned about your safety than about my position. You’d better not go back to the hinin settlement. If you do, the headman might not show-up to rescue you again.”
Reiko nodded in agreement. “I think I’ve learned as much there as I could.” She hesitated, then confessed, “Afterward, I went to the Hundred-Day Theater that Yugao’s father once owned.”
As she described what she’d learned, Sano was dismayed even further to realize that her inquiries had moved wider geographically and higher up the social scale. Could they remain secret much longer? Yet he couldn’t criticize her for doing the things he would have done in her place.
“Now that you’ve got alternate suspects as well as evidence against Yugao,” he said, “what will you do next?”
“I found out that her father’s former business partner and his two ronin were at a card game the whole night of the murders. That might or might not clear them. I wasn’t able to find Yugao’s friend Tama. But before I try again, I’m going to have another visit with Yugao. Maybe, when she hears what I’ve learned, she’ll be shaken up enough to tell me the truth.”
Maybe that would be the end of Reiko’s investigation. Sano said, “Good luck bringing the killer to justice, whoever it turns out to be.”
Reiko smiled, relieved that he wasn’t angry. “What about your investigation?”
“I’m going to try out a new theory. I’ve been examining the victims’ lives in search of suspects who might know dim-mak. But what if the victims didn’t know their killer? He might be a stranger they encountered in the streets. If so, his name wouldn’t be in their appointment records.”
And he could be someone far beyond Edo Castle and the administrative district. “It’ll be a huge job to reconstruct every move those men made and identify everyone who came within touching distance of them. But unless we get a lucky break very soon, we’d better start. And I’ll look specifically for men who know dim-mak.”
Masahiro came running up to Reiko and tugged her hand. “Me hungry. Eat!”
“Will you have dinner with us?” Reiko asked Sano.
Sano could ill afford the time, but it had been ages since he’d eaten with his family. “Yes. But afterward, I have some work to do in my office.”
He had to find out what had happened while he’d been gone, and attend to any urgent business. He also expected Lord Matsudaira to summon him to report on the progress of his investigation. His workload had increased a hundredfold since it began. The murder case had rejuvenated him, but his energy was flagging.
As he and Reiko and Masahiro entered the mansion together, Sano looked around and upward. The stars in the black sky sparkled, as bright as the fireflies, above the rooftops. Night hid from his view the palace up the hill. All was serene, but Sano imagined he heard the echo of war drums. The smell of gunpowder mingled with the floral scents.
“At least there hasn’t been another murder,” he said.
As night deepened, the moon swelled, white and round and luminescent, over Edo. Night-watchmen stood guard outside warehouses, while soldiers on horseback patrolled the rapidly emptying streets. Inside the windows of the houses, lamps winked out as if extinguished by a vast breath that swept through town. Sentries barred the gates to each neighborhood; the howling of stray dogs echoed in the gathering silence. The city slumbered. Darkness spread across hills and rice fields outside town.
But the Asakusa Temple district up the river blazed with light. Colored lanterns hung from the eaves of the temple buildings, shrines, and roofs of stalls in the marketplace. Hordes gathered to celebrate Sanja Matsuri, the festival that honored the founding of the temple a thousand years ago. People streamed into the main hall to pray for a good harvest, while outside, men performed ancient sacred dances. Village elders from the district paraded through boisterous, drunken throngs that jammed the precinct. Men pushed carts that transported huge drums and gongs, which they beat to produce a thunderous, clanging din. Priests led portable miniature shrines, each decorated with tingling brass bells, gilded ornaments, purple silk cords, and crowned with a gold phoenix. Each shrine rode atop stout wooden crossbeams borne on the shoulders of some hundred youths clad in loincloths and headbands. The bearers chanted in loud, hoarse voices as they labored under their heavy burdens. Sweat glistened on their naked flesh. Cheering crowds engulfed and followed the shrines. Beggars roved, their wooden bowls in hand, beseeching rich folk moved to generosity by the festive atmosphere.
One beggar among the legions made no effort to collect alms. His bowl was empty, his voice silent. Costumed in a tattered kimono and a wicker hat that hid his face, he ignored the merrymakers. His feet, clad in frayed straw sandals, trod a straight path through the crowd, following a group of samurai who walked ten paces ahead of him.
The group stopped at a wine vendor’s stall. The beggar halted a short distance away. His intent gaze focused on the samurai at the center of the group, a stout man with a fleshy face already red from liquor. He wore lavish silk robes and ornate swords. The others were simply dressed; his attendants. He and his men bought cups of wine, toasted one another, drank, and roared with laughter. Rage ignited inside the beggar while he watched them. The samurai, a high-ranked bakufu official, was one of the enemy that had trampled his honor in the dirt. His spirit roiled with the hot, bloodthirsty lust for revenge that had inspired his one-man crusade.
